Goethe-Institut London Instagram takeovers


Since 2021, the Goethe-Institut London has hosted its annual Instagram takeover series, whereby inspirational figures from marginalised communities are invited to share authentic content and insights with their 24.2k followers. Lasting one to two weeks, each takeover endeavours to raise awareness, spark engagement, and disseminate diverse perspectives on current cultural affairs, debates or trends in Germany and the UK.

The series has become a cornerstone of the Goethe-Institut London’s digital strategy, significantly boosting digital audience engagement, strengthening community interaction, and expanding the cultural reach of the organisation’s online presence.

As a registered association, the Goethe-Institut London operates independently, is politically neutral, and legally autonomous. Therefore, the takeover series also presents the opportunity to cover topics and angles it cannot address directly. Encompassing these perspectives allows the Goethe-Institut London to achieve its organisational goal of providing the public with comprehensive overviews of particular cultural debates, issues, or trends.

About the project


As the manager of the Goethe-Institut London's social media channels and budget, I led the production of three annual takeovers between 2021 and 2024. My production duties comprised research, coordinating planning meetings, suggesting and inviting guests, outlining measurable project objectives, preparing and sharing posting schedules, informing guests of editorial guidelines, and revising content before it went live to ensure it was in line with our contractual agreement.

Working within the Communications department, I was the primary point of contact for all digital and in-person interactions between stakeholders. During the takeover, I was also responsible for community management, which involved consulting our community guidelines to make executive decisions on shitstorms, moderate discussions, and respond to audience questions or queries.

Finally, I handled all administrative and budgetary processes, which covered budget planning, preparing contracts, processing payments to guests, and utilising analytical data tools to evaluate the effectiveness of the takeover in achieving its objectives. I also launched digital surveys for our audience to provide future guest suggestions and feedback on content and formats they liked/disliked.

Responsibilities: Production and editorial lead

Production Portfolio

Instagram takeover with Khuê Phạm

(May 2024)

Khuê Phạm is a Vietnamese-German writer and journalist, part of a new generation of German authors exploring questions of race and identity. After freelancing for The Guardian and NPR’s Berlin bureau, she joined Die Zeit, where she has worked as a staff writer for over a decade. Phạm is also a founding member of PEN Berlin and a jury member for the International Literature Award.

Her debut novel, Brothers and Ghosts (translated into English by Charles Hawley and Daryl Lindsey), draws on her family’s story and explores cultural reconciliation in the wake of the Vietnam War. In collaboration with New Books in German, the Goethe-Institut London hosted a book launch event for the English edition in May 2024. Phạm’s Instagram takeover promoted and documented the event. Phạm also featured in the Goethe-Institut’s literature series, Vorzeichen.

Instagram takeover content

Instagram takeover with Jackie Thomae

(March 2024)

Raised in Leipzig, Jackie Thomae is a German-Ghanaian journalist, television writer, and author who moved to Berlin in 1989, where she currently resides. Four years after publishing her debut novel, Momente der Klarheit (2015), she released her second, Brüder (2019), which was shortlisted for the German Book Prize and awarded the Düsseldorf Literature Prize in 2020. The novel received critical acclaim for its nuanced treatment of identity and race, exploring the lives of two half-brothers of Senegalese descent living in different worlds.

Translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp, the English-language edition, Brothers, was published in February 2024. A month later, the Goethe-Institut London hosted a book launch and discussion, which Thomae’s Instagram takeover promoted and documented. The event was supported by BAS Editions, DAS Editions, the DAAD Cambridge Research Hub for German Studies, and the German Section at the University of Cambridge.

Instagram takeover content

Instagram takeover with Daniel Schreiber

(August - September 2023)

Born in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Daniel Schreiber is a Berlin-based writer, translator, and columnist. He is the author of a biography of Susan Sontag (Geist und Glamour, 2007; Susan Sontag: A Biography, 2014) and four widely acclaimed essay collections that intertwine personal experience with insights from philosophy, sociology, and psychology. Writing in a literary yet vulnerable tone, Schreiber explores themes such as addiction, belonging, loneliness, and loss. His notable works include Sober (Nüchtern, 2014), Home (Zuhause, 2017), Alone (Allein, 2021), and The Time of Losses (Die Zeit der Verluste, 2023), which have received critical acclaim.

Following his participation in the Goethe-Institut’s monthly international online book club, Meet the Author, in May 2022, the Goethe-Institut London invited Schreiber for a literary discussion centred on Alone (Allein) in November that year. The overwhelmingly positive engagement with Schreiber-related social media content and strong sign-up figures for his events prompted us to commission him for an Instagram takeover.

Instagram takeover content

Instagram takeover with Poppy Hildebrand

(March 2022)

Poppy Hildebrand (formerly Davis) is a queer digital content creator from England, known for her light-hearted posts on TikTok and Instagram, where she shares everyday moments from life with her German partner. Her content playfully explores cultural differences, the quirks of bilingual relationships, and the challenges of learning the German language — all delivered with warmth, humour, and authenticity.

Following her Instagram takeover, we commissioned Davis to create language-focused TikTok content as part of our Goethe-Institut Deutsch world tour series, where she represented the UK. In 2022, she also took part in the video campaign, celebrating 60 Years of the Goethe-Institut London.

Instagram takeover content

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